Lot size: 600 sq. ft. front, 80 sq. ft. parking strip, 85% native
Garden Age: Garden was installed in stages, beginning in 2018
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: New this year!
Showcase Feature
Inspired by the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour, Cheryl and Brandon designed and installed this charming, water-conserving, low-maintenance cottage garden. For the installation, they sheet mulched the lawn in stages, brought in soil and small cobble to create a berm, set flagstones for the path, ‘spotted’ (or ‘placed’) the plants, and then did the planting.
Plum, pear, apple, orange, and a stone fruit salad tree anchor the garden. The understory contains low-growing California lilac and manzanitas, which provide structure and stability throughout the year, and an exuberant array of sages (purple, white, Munz’s, and hummingbird), buckwheats (rosy, seaside, longstem, and Santa Cruz Island), and a colorful and rambunctious selection of wildflowers (gilia, clarkia, poppies, buttercups, baby black eyes, and grand collomia).
Other Garden Attractions
• The hardy groundcover Lippia repens borders the pathway near the house.
Be sure and view the garden from the flagtone path near the house; this ‘secret room’ gives an entirely different view of the garden.
• Buckwheat and goldenrod flower in the summer and fall, extending the bloom season.
• Check out the fun artwork in this garden! Cheryl made the glass pieces at the Alameda Art Lab.
Gardening for Wildlife
Milkweed attracts monarch butterflies, which can lay eggs only on this plant. Goldenrod provides the butterflies with nectar. Ladybugs lay their eggs on the buckwheat.
Garden Talks
11:00 and 1:00 “Slow and steady: creating your garden yourself, a little at a time” by Cheryl Chi
Keystone species (watch this talk by Doug Tallamy!)
Keystone species—our own, local ecological powerhouse plants— in this garden include California lilac, sages, buckwheat, and penstemon.
Green Home Features
An array of twelve solar panels provides most of the energy this family needs, thus reducing their energy bill.
At least partially wheelchair accessible? Yes
